I'm new to this site but I have read a lot of threads over many different sites before regarding Les Claypool's gear and it sems like a lot of people are getting some false info. I'm just going to tell you people, who care, what Les's gear truly is made up of.
BASSES-
1. Main Carl Thompson 4 string-Made up of two slabs of black walnut followed by two stripes of fiddle-back maple and a mahogany center. It has 29 frets, maple neck, kahler tremolo, EMG 35DC pickup w/ EMG BTC preamp, ebony veneered headstock and the bass has had a few trips to Carl's shop because the headstock has been cracked(thus the ebony veneer from the plain maple core).
2. 6 String Fretless Carl Thompson Rainbow Bass- Made up of stripes of walnut, curly maple, padauk, purple heart, mahogany, and a bit of ebony. One EMG pickup w/ EMG BTC preamp. This bass has had a remake done to it. The body used to have a different upper horn(close to a sausage-looking strat horn) and a small stubby treble horn. Les complained that it was too top heavy and that it sat funny while playing it, so thus it was redone with the classic hook scroll and a longer treble horn.
3. 6 String Carl Thompson Fretted Maple Bass- Made up of Birds Eye maple with two EMG pickups. Supposedly this is one of the first 6 String basses Carl has made(besides Anthony Jackson's first ever CT 6 string in the world).
4. Maple Backup 4 String Carl Thompson- This bass is made up of curly flamed maple, ebony stripes, and I think a strip of purple heart. It has two schaller pickups in it.
5. Fretless 4 String Poplar and Ash piccolo CT- Made up of poplar, ash and mahogany. It has two EMG pick J-set pickups. 32" scale.
6. 4 String "Antimatter" ebony bass- This bass has an ebony veneer on the top of the body. The core is unknown. It has a kahler tremolo and looks like it's a 36" or 38" scale.
7. New Walnut 4 String remake- Les's new main walnut CT bass. The body is pretty much the same, but it has no mahogany core this time just walnut and maple. Again just one EMG 35DC pickup and kahler tremolo. 29 frets, 32" scale.
8. New Maple Dobro-like 4 string acoustic steel bass. Les said he doesn't know who made it and that it just showed up at his office one day. Had no pickup at first, then one unknown small pickup was added.
9. Dam Maloney 4 string Bassjo- Made by Les's highschool friend Dan Maloney who also made Les an electric upright, but Zeta EUB helped make it too.
10. Unknown Pawn shop electric 4 string upright- Les doesn't know who made it. He picked it up in a pawn shop for $200. Used in Seas of Cheese intro, codding town, few other songs. Has its own unique tone. Also has two pickups, and is a short scale EUB.
11. Kay acoustic upright- Les bought it for $300. Used in Mr. Krinkle, over the falls.
12. NS 5 string electric upright.
13. Rickenbacker bass. I think that Alex Lifeson from Rush gave this bass to Les when they were both very drunk hanging out at Alex's house many years ago.
14. Eko replica bass
15. 2 Fender basses- One is a redish, purpleish color with two J-set pickups(non-emg) and is fretless. Can be seen in Wynonna had a big brown beaver video. The other is pretty much the same except the bass is natural wood finish and has two EMG J-set pickups.
16. Whamola- This instrument was given to Les by two fans waiting for him after a show at his hotel. It is a one D-string tension..thing. It has one pickup.
Gear
1. For Primus les used..
Mesa Boogie diesel/powerhouse cabinets. The types have varied from the 1200 to a few 2x15's. Used mesa boogie 400 + head, and then switched to Ampeg SVT 3 Pro.
Frog Brigade les used...
Ampeg Pro series cabinets. Les stuck to 2
pr-410 and 2
pr-2X15 NOT 2
pr-1x15 like everyone writes about. After a few years Les used this setup for Primus too.
Les used to use the SVT3 pro head, now he has 4 SVT5 pro heads(other two are backup).
Les uses Gallien K' practice amps. Les also has an old vintage British solid-state head that he used in the song Barrington Hall from Purple Onion.
Effects-
Line6 DM4 Distortion Modeler, Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler, Boomerang Phrase Sampler, Kork Toneworks AX3000B multi-effects unit, DBX 160a Compressor(used to), Access Virus TI synthesizer with MIDI foot controller, Tu-Chromatic tuner, 2 Aspect Switch box(the pink colored ones) Sansamp Bass Driver DI +, API 7600 preamp x2, Crest Pro Power amp 3301, Furman PL plus power conditioner. Shure mics with a treble-mic.
That's all i'm typing for now, but hopefully you got a good taste. Please no making fun of me. Yes I know I seem very geeky about this stuff, but hey, I'm only 18 so.. Anyone else who likes this kind of stuff, here's the jackpot. Pics can also be given upon request to back up my claims if you would like.
